Bullough’s suspension ‘a crushing disappointment’ for the Spartans going into the Rose Bowl

Michigan State has the top overall defense in the country and the best against the run, but that defense might have gotten a little weaker this week with the suspension of senior middle linebacker Max Bullough.

He was basically the Shayne Skov of the Spartans, a robust and active hitter who was one of the team’s inspirational leaders. According to Detroit Free Press sportswriter Joe Rexrode, the impact on the Spartans is huge as they prepare for the Rose Bowl against Stanford on New Year’s Day.

”Let’s face it,” Rexrode said in his analysis Thursday, “the tone of the entire week has changed. One person doesn’t make a team or a program, but this isn’t just a huge loss for MSU’s defense. This isn’t just the loss of MSU’s primary vocal leader. This is a crushing disappointment for everyone involved with MSU and for its first family, and it will suck a chunk of the attention from the feel-good story of MSU and its fans returning to Pasadena after a quarter century.”

He thinks Bullough’s absence will make it “very difficult” for the Spartans to beat Stanford because the All-Big Ten linebacker was essentially the pre-snap quarterback of the defense. Whoever his replacement is, probably Kyler Elsworth or Darien Harris, will be considerably lighter than Bullough. Elsworth is listed at 6-1, 225, Harris at 6-0, 215. Stopping the Stanford ground game isn’t easy for anybody, but especially undersized linebackers.

The man Bullough would have been most geared to stop, Stanford tailback Tyler Gaffney, said, “We know he was the heart and soul of their defense. He was the captain. It’s definitely going to affect them in some regard, but we’ve got to prepare as if they’re going to have a guy who’s exactly the same replacing him.”